Fallen Feathers
by JkayChase
Summary: Ari stared at the monster hurtling towards her.  Never, in her entire lifetime, had she seen such a terror, with bright red eyes shining underneath a strangely shaped skull on top of a contorted body.  "Its time to eat...your SOUL!"
1. A New Town

Ari ran her fingers through her hair absentmindedly, looking out the window of the light rail. Her bags rested alongside her, full of her clothes, money, laptop, books, and other items. She had brought as much as she could carry-considering she wouldn't be home for a while. Her reflection in the window stared back at her, revealing the dark circles under her eyes and the overall exhaustion that plagued her face under her army patterned cap. She had fitted herself in comfortable jeans, while a black tank top formed snugly around her slender torso. Her arms were spotted with several small dark bruises, the darkest ones around her wrists. She didn't see the point of trying to cover them up.

"Mom, mommy, look!" a kid on the light rail tugged at his mother's skirt, pointing at her. Ari stared at him, knowing the reason for his staring.

"That girl has purple hair!"

Yes. Ever since birth, she had somehow managed to grow a headful of deep purple hair. She kind of liked it, actually. It wasn't neon bright or so dark it made her look sickly pale. It was just the perfect shade to fit her.

However, the rest of the world didn't seem to think so.

"Haku, quit staring!" The woman scolded. Sighing, Ari took off her hat, gathered up her hair, wrapped a band from her wrist around her hair, and shoved it up to the top of her head, replacing her hat. She used the window to tuck the remaining strands under the hat as well. It was just easier this way. She didn't want to be known as the new freak in her new neighborhood any earlier than needed. With any luck, no one would notice that her eyebrows weren't black, but a very dark shade of purple.

"Ma'am? Ma'am? Can you see me?"

Oh. That.

"Leave me alone." Ari muttered under her breath towards the transparent figure floating near her head. She didn't look, only felt its presence. She didn't particularly enjoy the forms these 'ghosts' appeared to her in. They were nearly ALWAYS gored in some way, and yet talked like civilized people, which in her opinion…was just creepy.

"So you CAN see me. Thank god. I'm new at this being dead stuff, can you point me in the right direction?"

Ari suppressed a groan. She cast a quick glance at the screen at the front of the car. Garu street was the next stop. She restrained herself from banging her head against the window. Six more stops until hers. This Karakura town was a large place. And unfortunately, knowing how stubborn spirits were, this one would probably be bugging her until she left….maybe even longer.

Even so. She slid off her backpack and unzipped a sidepocket, searching for a snack. She felt the ghost slide into the empty spot beside her.

"Ma'am? What's your name?"

Great. The gentle tone of the ghost's voice made it seem too rude to ignore her longer. She raised her head, and looked at the ghost, allowing a blank expression to drift across her face, as if she was spacing out.

"Ari." She said softly under the murmur of the other passengers. The ghost was that of a child, eleven, maybe twelve years of age. The girl, with blood spilling down from a nasty head wound, looked up at her with wonder. Then unexpectedly, the child latched onto her arm and started bawling.

"I was so scared! Waahhh! Mom and dad disappeared! I couldn't find them! No one I went to responded to me! They can't see me! They can't even HEAR me! Wahh!"

Despite herself, Ari's eyes softened. She grabbed her cell phone and reached around the ghost, making it seem as though she was looking at her phone, rather than embracing thin air. That's what it felt like, anyways. None of these 'ghosts' were ever substantial.

"Shh. You'll see them again soon enough." Ari mumbled, trying to comfort the bloody child. Brown eyes looked up at her, sniffling.

"You think so?"

"Yes. I'm sure of it." Ari reassured, trying not to look away at the sight of the child's horrific wounds. The child paused, seeming to contemplate something. Shyly the child met her eyes again.

"Can I stay with you until they come to get me?"

Oh boy. Ari reached up and tried to run her fingers through her hair, out of habit, only to meet her baseball cap. Who knew when the kid's parents were going to come back, or if they ever were going to? It would definitely get in the way of her trying to be normal, with a ghost kid following her around and asking her questions. Still. She couldn't very well leave the kid alone.

"Fine. But on one condition."

The girl's expression changed to cautious, and slightly anxious.

"What?" the innocent voice rang.

"You tell me your name."

Instantly the girl's expression changed, her face breaking into a child's crooked grin.

"Chihiro."


	2. Fresh Start

"Last stop, Soppropro Street."

Ari threw her backpack on, and grabbed two dufflebags in each hand. She rushed out the door before the light rail took off again. Chihiro followed after, floating eerily. Ari tried to remember the way from the first time she had come here, in secret. Tall buildings loomed over her, the air smelled bad, people crowded along the sidewalks, and to add to all the confusion, cars were endlessly zooming by, honking their horns more often than any driver had the right to. Ari already had a headache.

"So which way do we go?" Chihiro asked from her settled spot on Ari's shoulder. From the corner of her eye, Ari could see the end of the skirt of the yellow sundress the ghost was wearing.

"Left, I think." Ari responded uncertainly.

"Where are we going, anyhow?" Chihiro asked as they turned the corner and began along the sidewalk, dodging people along the way.

"My new house."

"You have a house? How old are you, anyhow?" Chihiro's young eyes were suspicious.

"Sixteen."

"You're too young to have a house of your own!"

"Yea, well no one has to know I'm living out on my own. Besides, the house payments are being paid by my uncle, so technically it's legal."

"Oooo…you're gonna get in truuu-bul." Chihiro sang childishly. Irritated, Ari decided to ignore her.

She looked at her surroundings.

Oh! I know where I am now!

Confidentally, Ari took a right on the corner of the next street corner, crossing the road when the light turned green. She ignored Chihiro's endless prattle in her ear. Concentrating, she kept her eye on the line of trees that bordered the sidewalk now. There!

She turned sharply into the overgrown path. It was hard to see, but the fern bushes gave it away.

"Ooo. The path looks kinda magical, doesn't it? Looks like a unicorn could pop out any second!" Chihiro exclaimed.

"What? Of course not."

The ghost pursed her lips in dissatisfaction at Ari's answer. The trees that loomed over them parted after a few more minutes of walking. A white fence around the huge clearing claimed its area, a tall iron padlocked gate resting on a widened, more taken care of pathway.

"This is so cool!" Chihiro cried, and with a whoosh that left a breeze tickling Ari's cheek, she disappeared, her form going straight through the gate, up to the huge house that stood tall behind the fencing.

Ari sighed, walking the rest of the way to the gate. Ghosts. She dropped her duffelbags, rubbing her sore biceps before sliding her backpack over her shoulder, opening a sidepocket and rummaging through it. There. She grabbed hold of the key, shoving it into the heavy padlock and twisting it. With a click, the lock gave up its fastened state, and she was able to remove it. The gates opened smoothly and without question. For safety measures, once Ari got all her bags inside the premises, she took the chain and padlock and relocked the area from the inside. It would be pretty hard for someone to break in when the lock was out of reach. Smiling at the clever idea, Ari slid her backpack back on and picked up her duffelbags.

"Come on!"

And nearly dropped them. She swore.

"Chihiro! Don't scare me like that!" She scolded. Chihiro's big brown eyes were wide with shock. The little girl brought one finger up to Ari's face.

"You SWORE!"

Ari rolled her eyes.

"Yea, so?"

"That's bad!"

Sighing, Ari changed the subject.

"so what did you find in the house?"

Chihiro grinned.

"Your uncle really gave you a nice place to stay. There's even a pool and a hot tub! And a HUGE TV!"

Perfect-she needed a good soaking. A nice long soak in the hot tub, followed by a shower, and then sitting down to the TV and dinner sounded like a great ending to a day to her.

"Come ON!" The girl whined, wrapping her hand around Ari's collar. Ari's eyes widened as she watched as the fabric of the shirt unexpectedly followed Chihiro's hand.

"Hang on..wait now-

Too late. Chihiro lifted her up as if she was nothing, and swept her up to the front door in an instant. The adrenaline that had rushed through her automatically went to her mouth. Of course.

"What the HELL did you do that for?" She snapped.

Chihiro's eyes grew wide and watery through the blood on her face. Ari stuttered.

"Oh come on kid, don't cry." She hated it when she made others cry. It was easier to comfort a kid for something that she didn't do, rather than something she caused. She put a hand on Chihiro's back.

"How about you go swimming in the pool?"

Instantly, all smiles. Ari let out a sigh of relief.

"YIPEE!" Chihiro flew into the house and disappeared.

"Hey! Don't make too big a mess!" Ari shouted in warning. No answer. Great.

Ari fished around in her pocket for the key to the door. There. Found it. Shoved it in the normal looking wooden door's lock, turned it with a click. Immediately she was met with the overwhelming scent of lilacs.

The part of the house she was in itself was something to stare at. It was akin to the American lodge type of lodge house. Paintings of different animals were placed strategically, all of them beautiful. To her left, in the living room, there were paintings on each wall. A wolf staring intensely out of the frame, a deer taking a drink from a cool lake, an orange furred fox feeding a squirrel to her kits. The huge wide screen tv was set against the clear window. Before it was a table, and further than that a deep mahogany couch, on either side two leather armchairs.

"Chihiro?" Ari called questioningly as she set her duffelbags down and made her way through the dining room, passed a set of winding stairs, and into the kitchen. Immediately Chihiro appeared before her. She was soaking wet. Ari's eyebrows furrowed.

"Chihiro? I thought ghosts couldn't get wet."

"That's because they're new to being ghosts. I've been in this form for a while, so I can interact with the physical world."

Wait a minute. Didn't that contradict with what Chihiro had first said on the light rail? …Ari decided not to bring it up. She was glad the blood was off of Chihiro's face. The only thing that remained was a gash on her head.

"Come on!" Chihiro urged, grabbing her arm. No way was Ari going through THAT again. She pried Chihiro's hand off her arm, surprised when she made contact with the transparent girl's hand. Chihiro pouted.

"I'm coming!" Ari exclaimed, following Chihiro. Chihiro went through the glass door in the kitchen into a patio of sorts. Ari smiled. There was indeed a pool and a hot tub. And they were decent sizes too.

"Oh! I found this when I first went around the house!" Chihiro said, handing Ari a white envelope with her name on it. Ari took it, and slid her finger under the envelope's sealed flap. Smoothly, she snapped her finger up, leaving a clean cut.

"You're good at that." Chihiro noted, floating over Ari's shoulder, her little hands on Ari's shoulders.

Dear Ari,

Hope you like the arrangements I've made for you. I made sure the fridge, freezer, and pantry were filled with food for your arrival. Let me know how you're doing, hey? I'm not going to ask what happened between my brother and you, but I do know he hasn't been in his right mind lately, so try not to hold it against him. However, you're welcome to stay as long as you like. You're old enough to choose who you stay with, and your mother left her half of custody with me. I'll be visiting once a week, so make sure you keep the house clean. In one of the cupboards in the pantry there's a supply of pepper spray, a couple of pocket knives, and (heaven forbid you need it) a handheld gun for defense if you need it. I still remember taking you to get your gun license. I'd never been prouder. Hopefully we'll go hunting together again soon!

Love Ya Kiddo,

Kousuke

P.S. In your room, I left an envelope full of cash in case you need or want a little extra. ;) Oh, you'll know your room when you see it-it's upstairs.

Ari smiled. It was just like her Uncle to be so friendly, yet protective and have authority in his voice without spoiling it. She really liked her Uncle.

"He's a nice guy, isn't he?" Chihiro noted. It wasn't really a question, but Ari answered anyways.

"Yea, he is."

About a half hour later, Ari turned on the jets of the hot-tub and slid into the water, finally relaxing her stiff muscles. The steady stream of jets against her back was a heavenly sensation-it silenced all the worries crawling at the back of her mind and caused her to focus on the here and now. And the here and now was pretty sweet. She closed her eyes, resting her head on the waterproof pillow built into the hot tub.

"Aren't you going to school?"

Ari nearly jumped out of her skin, successfully managing to lose her seat and slipping underwater. Sputtering she resurfaced.

"Don't DO that!" she told the girl, who was obviously trying to hold back giggles. Chihiro failed miserably, finally bursting into laughter. Grumbling, Ari went back to her seat, trying once again to relax. The childish laughter subsided, and Ari felt Chihiro beside her.

"But really-aren't you going to school? I'm dead, so I don't have to, but that's no excuse for you."

Ari groaned at the reminder.

"Yes, I'm going to school. Tomorrow."

"Which school?"

"Karakura High."


	3. The Encounter

Ari unwillingly drug herself out of comfortable sleep. She was far too comfortable under the mountains of covers. The warmth emanating from the covers beckoned her back to sleep, while the mattress sank under her weight in just the right way. The queen sized bed was just too comfortable for words.

"You're awake! Come one, we have to go to school!"

_What?_ Ari's half asleep mind asked. She didn't recognize the voice.

"Ari! WAKE UP!"

Ari jerked straight up with a shriek.

"What the hell? Why did you yell in my EAR?" She snapped. Chihiro's eyes began to water.

"I..I was just…I was just excited to go to school with you!" Chihiro sobbed. Ari ran her fingers through her hair. _Oh, geez._

"Look, I'm sorry. You just surprised me is all." She apologized sleepily. Chihiro looked up at her through tear soaked eyes.

"I made you breakfast, too."

Ari sighed, and then ruffled the kid's hair. This seemed to perk Chihiro up.

"Ok kiddo, what did you make?" She asked, finding it odd she was using her uncle's pet name for her. Chihiro's eyes lit up immediately, and she took Ari's hand and led her out, down the stairs, and to the dining room. Left out was a single plate, filled with two strips of bacon, and an egg sunny side up.

Chihiro grabbed the chair and yanked it out for Ari impatiently. Trying not to upset the child any more that morning, Ari picked up a fork and began eating. The bacon was just perfect-not too crispy, not too underdone. The egg was good as well.

"Thanks Chihiro, it was really good," Ari said. Chihiro smiled. Ari stood up and took the plates to the kitchen, glancing at the clock above the kitchen doorway.

"Oh shit! It's seven forty-five already!"

"Is that a bad thing?" Chihiro asked innocently.

"Well yea, when school starts at 8:15 and you still need to figure out where it is!" Ari exclaimed as she ran back up the stairs. Hurriedly she grabbed a hair brush and yanked her wooden dresser open.

"Here, let me do that," Chihiro offered, grabbing the brush from Ari and floating up to the back of her head. Ari decided to just let Chihiro do it as she grabbed her uniform out of the drawer. The soft and gentle brushing of her hair tempted Ari to sit down and relax as she squirmed out of her P.J's and into her uniform.

"Your hair is so pretty. I wish I had hair the color of yours."

_What?_ But Ari didn't have the time to dwell on that.

"All done!" Chihiro said with a smile in her childish voice.

Ari took a hairband from around her wrist and tied her hair up in a bun.

"Hey! What did you do that for?" Chihiro demanded, a pout starting to roll up her face.

"Not a lot of people like the color of my hair. And in a new school, I don't want to be known as the freak right away." Ari answered, grabbing a grey hat from her stack on top of the dresser and jamming it onto her head. Yes, she had a thing about hats. What of it? She shoved her new shoes on and raced back downstairs and took a sharp right, opening the door to the bathroom. The pale green walls greeted her. It was the only thing about the house that she didn't like-the bathroom's hideous walls. Anyways, no time to worry about that. She grabbed her toothbrush, shoved some toothpaste on it, and hurriedly brushed her teeth. Finishing up, she spit into the sink, rinsed it and her brush clean, set the brush down and raced out the bathroom for the door, snatching up her bookbag as she went.

Welcome sunlight bathed her face as she sped towards the gates.

_Oh crap I forgot the key._ She swore in her head, turning to go back inside to get it. Chihiro floated up to her.

"Here." The little ghost said, unlocking the lock for her.

"Thanks Chihiro. Do you think you could lock it after us?"

The girl beamed, and saluted her.

"Yes ma'am!"

Thanking the ghost again, Ari shot into the forest path, dodging roots and tree branches as her feet would allow. It wasn't far-but it took ten minutes at a dead run to get to the street. By then Ari was sweaty, tired, and her legs and lungs were burning, the stiffness ricocheting up her body.

"This way!" Chihiro motioned from around the corner with her tiny hand. Already feeling like she was going to collapse, Ari started running again, dodging people and bikers, wondering why in the hell there were so many people up already.

"You're almost there!" Chihiro called as Ari ran across another crosswalk. Too out of breath to respond, Ari continued following the dead girl. Turning this way, turning that way. Running into people, occasionally almost over-running a dog. Finally, a school building came into sight.

_Oh, finally._ Ari thought in relief.

Chihiro stopped dead. No pun intended. A moment later, the little girl in the sundress appeared by Ari's arm, unexpectedly wrapping her arms around Ari's waist and burying her head into the older girl's side, trembling.

"What's..*gasp*…wrong-

A roar unlike anything Ari had ever heard before shook the air. The hair on the back of Ari's neck stood up as the air grew cold and dark. Around her, the other people kept going about their day as if nothing had happened, which made it plain that whatever made that noise was a spirit of some sort. The ground trembled. Adrenaline slammed into Ari's system-every particle of her being screamed at her-RUN!

"Come on," Ari said softly to Chihiro, walking quickly up the sidewalk towards the school doors. She was almost there. Her hand wrapped around the handle.

Then it appeared. Out of the corner of her eye, she jerked away just in time-Chihiro hung on somehow. The beast's arm scraped past her. Red eyes looked down at her from a bone white mask belonging to a winged rat type creature. Usually, rodents didn't bother Ari. In fact, she thought they were cute. However…this thing was NOT cute. She stared up at the monster, who lifted a claw to lick the blood off of it. Faintly, Ari realized her shoulder was bleeding. The bony tail twitched in contemplation. The creature burst into laughter, throwing its nose into the air. It brought its penetrating gaze back to Ari and Chihiro. A shiver ran up Ari's spine.

"This is gonna be fun. It's been a while since I came across a human with spiritual power. You can see me clearly, can't you child?"

Ari stood, frozen.

"Hmph. No matter. You smell _delicious._" The thing said before lunging at her. Ari's reflexes forced her into action. She leapt sideways, her heart pounding. Chihiro was now clinging onto her shoulders.

"Chihiro, get out of here."

The ghost girl didn't respond, instead clinging tighter to Ari's shoulders. Ari let out a breath as the creature turned towards her again. Slowly, she was beginning to think clearly again. For the first time, she noticed the creature had a painful looking hole in its chest.

"Huh. How interesting. It seems I was correct after all. Too scared to speak, kid?" the monster asked, black humor in his gruff voice. Ari's hands curled into fists.

"What the HELL are you, you ugly tard?" she snapped. Immediately the air around her dropped a couple degrees. Obviously, she had pissed the thing off.

"What did you call me?" the monster's icy, stiff tone told her how much danger she was in as he towered over her and Chihiro. A smarter person would have turned a run.

"You heard me! The only thing uglier than you is-well, I've never actually seen anything uglier." Ari found the words coming out of her seemingly beyond her own will. However, the taunt gave her newfound bravery. The monster's tail crashed against a telephone pole in anger.

"You're going to regret you said that you little punk!" He snarled, before beginning to charge once again. Before he had taken two steps, a flash of light created a wall between them. When the light cleared, a tall orange haired boy in black robes stood in front of Ari and Chihiro. His sword was huge, with no hilt.

"Come on!" Chihiro urged, her small hands surprisingly strong in half dragging Ari away from the scene and around the corner of the school. The side doors to the school burst open without any help, it seemed, and Chihiro lunged into the school, taking Ari with her. The door slammed shut behind them firmly.

"Chihiro, what WAS that?" Ari asked, finding her hands still shaking. The smaller girl paused, looking down.

"Chihiro.." Ari growled.

"A hollow." Chihiro whispered. Irritated, Ari brought the ghost's chin up so she could see her face. Chihiro's eyes widened.

"Ari, you're bleeding." She whispered, floating over to inspect Ari's shoulder. Ari looked over, and the sight of the blood made her stomach curdle. Nearly half of her school uniform was soaked with it. Her shoulder looked like someone had taken a saw to it. Funny how it didn't even hurt, or how she hadn't even really realized how deep it was. Crashes were still going on from outside, along with the boy's yells. She couldn't make out what he was saying though.

"I'm going to go look for the nurse." Chihiro announced, much calmer now, and the little girl disappeared before Ari could say 'wait'.

Ari slid to the floor, feeling suddenly weak. Her hands felt cold and clammy. Her wound was beginning to sting. A lot. In the back of her mind, she noted how there were no students in the hallway. She was definitely late.

_Damn_. She thought with a wry smile before her eyes started to close.

"Ari!" A voice called out to her from far away. She was slowly fading into the welcome darkness of the unconsciousness. Faintly, she was aware of her body being picked up and moving.

_Darkness swallowed her up. Her limbs were crammed up against one another, her neck bent at an awkward angle. _

_**Ari**__. A powerful voice called out to her._

_**Ari, hear me. Come. I'm trapped. Come find me.**_

_**Ari.**_

_**Ari.**_

"ARI!" A scared yell woke her up. The pain in her shoulder was near unbearable, pangs of white hot flame seared down her body with every pulse her heart made. Ari furrowed her eyebrows. She wanted the darkness. It was comfortable. Painless.

"ARI WAKE UP!" a slap to the face forced Ari to open her heavy eyelids. Chihiro came into view, though the image was a bit fuzzy.

"What?" Ari grumbled, sitting up carefully. Chihiro's eyes were frantic.

"I brought you here. You have to go in!"

Stiffly, Ari swung her head around. A plaque outside a doorway read 'Nurse's office'. Groaning, fighting the fatigue, she drew herself up and stumbled inside. The nurse, a blonde woman with glasses, lazily swept her eyes over to the newcomer. Eyes widened. The woman scrambled out of her seat, turning and throwing cupboards open, grabbing for objects in them. Ari sidestepped, and let her legs collapse under her, painfully sliding into a sitting position. Chihiro stood in the shadows, watching, biting her nails.

The nurse knelt down in front of Ari, unbuttoning her shirt and tossing it aside. Ari fought to keep her eyes open as the nurse wrapped her shoulder tightly.

"What in the hell happened?" the nurse finally asked, pressing her hand firmly against the bandages. Ari didn't respond. Her body felt heavier than steel. Chihiro appeared next to the nurse. Passing her hands through the nurse's, Chihiro pressed her small hands against Ari's wound. A soft blue glow emitted from Chihiro's hands, and Ari's pain faded to a dull throbbing. The blood stopped dripping-slowly. The ghost withdrew her hands, looked up at Ari with her big blue eyes, and whispered, "I'll see you at home."

With a crack, Chihiro was gone.

"Thank god, its stopped bleeding." The nurse said with a sigh of relief. After a moment, she looked Ari in the eye.

"What's your name?"

"Ari. Ari Natsuki."

"Well, Miss Natsuki, it's a miracle you didn't bleed to death." The nurse noted, handing her a clean school blouse and helping Ari put it on.

The woman's eyes softened. "Now, come." She said, wrapping an arm around Ari's waist, and guiding her into a room to the left. The nurse helped Ari stumble to the nearest cot, and then assisted her onto it.

"I'm going to call your parents," and she strode out of the room with purpose. Ari let out a sigh. She felt much better, though the throbbing in her shoulder was still enough to keep her awake. But she was able to think and see clearly now. She'd have to ask Chihiro about it later.

"Your Uncle is coming." The nurse said, her form appearing in the doorway.

"He said he was a ways away, so rest until he comes. He's bringing a doctor with him."

The nurse walked up to her, one hand cupping something, the other holding a paper cup of water.

"Take this. It'll help with the pain."

Gratefully, Ari swallowed the pills.

About forty five minutes later, her Uncle's familiar face poked through the doorway. His bright green eyes, identical to hers, scanned the area cautiously. His gaze landed on Ari.

"How you doing, kiddo?" he asked, the usual merriment that rang his tone almost undetectable. Ari grinned.

"Feels like I've been mauled by a bear. How are you today?"

Kousuke shook his head.

"You're yourself as usual. How in the world did you end up injuring yourself, anyways?"

Perfectly rehearsed, Ari responded "I tripped down some steps and fell on a fence pike."

"Only you would be that graceful."

"Shut up."

Rolling his eyes, Kousuke motioned beyond the door. Another familiar face popped in.

"How ya doin, Ayaka?" Ari asked the dark haired woman.

"Geez Ari. Knew you were clumsy, but an emergency call? Come on, let me take a look." Ayaka walked over to her, then turned and glared at Kousuke.

"**Boys** must leave the room." Ayaka said pointedly, putting down a grey briefcase. Kousuke rolled his eyes and left the two girls to themselves.

"Do you need help taking your blouse off, or can you do it yourself?" Ayaka asked, opening the briefcase to reveal an assortment of needles, gauze, antiseptics, and even a portable blood transplant machine.

With her good hand, Ari started unbuttoning her blouse clumsily. Rolling her eyes, Ayaka helped her with it, and in a few seconds she was carefully undoing the bandages the nurse had hastily made.

"So, how's your father? Heard you moved into Kousuke's old house-how did that happen?"

Ari hissed between her teeth as the wound caught the cold air.

"Yep, definitely going to need stitches. Sorry Hon."

Ayaka reached down into her briefcase. Ari looked away. Fire hot pain laced through her shoulder as Ayaka cleaned out the wound with alcohol.

"Now, answer my question. Why are you living out alone?"

A jarring stab into her wound made Ari yelp. The throbbing went away though, replaced by relieving numbness.

"Sorry. I suggest you keep looking away. This is the part where I have to stitch you up." Ayaka informed her. Ari kept her head turned firmly away as a tugging sensation began at the top of her shoulder.

"Well, whatever the reason, I hope it is resolved soon. It's not good for kids to be away from their parents for too long."

Ari let out a snort.

"Hold still." Ayaka scolded, and then left her alone for the rest of the procedure, which lasted about twenty minutes.

"All right. All done." Ayaka said, and then unexpectedly gave Ari a gentle hug.

"Sweetheart, I hope you know that there are people you can talk to if you need to. You're not alone in whatever it is you're fighting at home."

Great.

"You should know better. I'm not a sob story." Ari replied stiffly. Ayaka only smiled.

"See ya later, kid. Try to be more careful."

When Ayaka left, Ari slid on the blouse the nurse had given her, grateful for the numbness the needle had given her shoulder so she was able to move it freely. She looked up at the clock. It was nearly lunchtime already. Kousuke was talking to the nurse outside about something. She didn't want to put in the effort to actually listen.

"So. You saw the hollow, didn't you?"

Ari turned her head at the voice. Great. Spikey orange head. A strange, triumphant look crossed his face.

"Ha! I was right. You did see him."

"Don't get too excited, carrot-top."

Immediately the boy scowled. "What?"

"Well, obviously, since you didn't give me your name, I have to call you _something._ So I chose carrot-top." Ari said smugly.

"Why you!" He growled.

"Who are you?" Carrot top demanded to know.

"Isn't that a little rude? Demanding to know someone's name without giving your own?" Ari was starting to enjoy this argument. Carrot top sputtered for a moment, growled, and seemed to come to a decision.

"Fine then. My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. What's yours?" He asked, extending a hand to her. She took it.

"My name's Ari Natsuki."

"Ari! Come on. We're going home."

"Oh, gotta go. Nice meeting you, carrot top!" Ari called. For some reason, it was just fun to piss this guy off. Her nickname for him gave the desired effect. His scowl went even deeper, and he positively growled at her. She laughed, and left the room for her waiting Uncle.

A/N: I know the past couple of chapters have been boring-so I figured I would spruce it up a little. I have big plans with this story-I'm excited to write it. Hopefully there will be updates daily.


	4. Remember

A/N: Special thanks to mockingbird shadow and ichigo1508 for my first reviews.

_Can't you hear me, Ari? Where are you? I'm waiting. I've been trapped for far too long. _

_Ari shuddered. She was back in that terrible cramped, dark place. Her wings longed to stretch for the first time. Wait-her wings?_

_Who are you?__ She asked. Silence. Then-_

_I am your-_

Ari woke up in a cold sweat. Light. Warmth. Pain. She stretched out her fingers, trying to rid herself of that feeling of claustrophobia.

_There's not much time left._ A voice whispered in the back of her mind before the feeling disappeared.

"Ari? You awake kid?"

Ari turned her head from the brown leather couch. Kousuke walked towards her, a cup in one hand, the other hand cupped. Pills.

"Here, take these. Ayaka said they would help while you healed," he said, handing them to her. Without a fuss, Ari downed them. The throbbing in her shoulder was ever painful. Kousuke let out a breath, and Ari caught the worry in his eyes.

"Hang on." He said, and walked off. He returned with a washcloth. Kousuke gently pushed away Ari's side bangs and wiped her forehead free of sweat.

"From the way you were shivering, I was getting worried about you. I was about to grab the electric blanket when you woke up."

"Thanks." Ari said, touched. She sat up groggily. Her head spun, and she put a hand to it, leaning against the back of the couch for support until the world quit twirling annoyingly.

"Ayaka also said you're on strictly bedrest for the next three days, to allow your body to recover the blood you lost." Kousuke said. Ari groaned. Three whole days? Great. At least there was TV.

"How did I get here?" she asked. Kousuke furrowed his left eyebrow.

"You don't remember? I helped you to the car, and then you passed out. You gained consciousness as we drove up to the backdrive, mumbled that you wanted to watch TV when you got up, and then fell asleep again."

Ari blinked, confused. What? …Whatever.

"We have a backdrive?"

Kousuke grinned.

"Yes, of course. It's the only way cars get in. Though mind you, it's hidden."

"You and your damn hide-away spots." Ari growled, causing Kousuke to chuckle. After a moment, something crossed Ari's mind.

"Where's Chihiro?"

At the sound of her name, the ghost appeared at her side.

"I had to stay hidden. Those were Soul Reapers." She explained, unbeknownst to Kousuke.

"Who?" he asked, puzzled. Ari shook her head.

"Nevermind. I'm thirsty..do you think you could-

"Orange or apple?" Kousuke asked with a grin. Finally. It was un-nerving, having him stare at her with that stupid worried look on his face.

"Apple."

Without another word, Kousuke got up and walked into the kitchen.

"How are you feeling?" Chihiro asked. Damn. She had that worried look on her face too.

"I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt." Ari lied. Chihiro nodded.

"Chihiro? What's a….hollow?" Ari had to rack her brain to remember what those monster things were called. Chihiro turned her gaze to the floor. She kicked at an imaginary stone with her sandals.

"Chihi-

"Alright then. Apple juice it is." Kousuke announced, his footsteps giving him away before he appeared. Ari clamped her mouth shut, giving Chihiro the 'I'm not letting this go' look. Chihiro disappeared with another pop. Ari sighed, then plastered on a smile for Kousuke as he appeared, carrying a mug with horses running across the front of it.

"Here you go, kiddo. Anything else I can get you?"

"Yea, a way to get out of bed rest," Ari replied, sipping the juice. The sips turned into large gulps, and she downed the entire mug. Kousuke ruffled her hair.

"Not today, kiddo."

"Hey! Where's my hat?" Ari demanded, pulling on a jacket that was hanging on the standing coat rack beside her.

"I threw it away." Kousuke said flatly.

"What? That was a good hat! One of my favorites!" Ari complained. And it had been on sale three years ago-how was she supposed to find one to replace it?

"It was covered in blood."

"Oh." Ari said, immediately regretting her complaints. Kousuke rolled his eyes under his thick eyebrows.

"Kid, you and your damn hats."

"Hey, everyone needs a hobby." Ari pointed out.

"Yea. But yours has to be weird."

"Yep." Ari responded smugly, earning another eye roll from Kousuke.

"In the meantime, I'm staying home with you until you're off of bed rest-to make sure you do the rest part."

Damn it all to hell.

"Not even one walk a day? Seriously?" Ari pleaded.

"'Fraid not, kid. You're far too prone to injury. I let you take one step outside and you'll break your ankle."

Growling, Ari yanked a pillow up and threw it at him with her good arm. He blocked it with his fore-arm, chuckling.

"All right then, scrabble or chess?" He asked, going to a cabinet next to the TV.

"Scrabble."

"Loser has to pay for pizza." Kousuke challenged, for a moment looking younger than his thirty eight years. Ari grinned.

"You're on."

The next few hours were filled with triumph and failure. Round one led to a round two, and after round three, they broke out the chess board.

"Why even bother? I'll just beat you again," Ari teased, grinning.

"Scrabble is a kid's game. This is the big boy stuff." Kousuke said confidently, setting up his side of the board.

"Whatever," Ari rolled her eyes, biting into her piece of cheese pizza.

The doorbell rang unexpectedly.

"I'll get it." Kousuke offered, and got up. Ari rolled her eyes. It was Kousuke's way of babying her.

"Hey, Ari, some friends of yours are here to see you."

Huh? Friends? She didn't even SEE anyone besides the monster, Chihiro, and carrot top, let alone make friends. Still.

"Let them in." She called.

"It's the Soul Reaper!" Chihiro's voice came out of nowhere. Looking back, Ari caught a glimpse of Chihiro's brown hair behind the TV.

That couldn't be. She was sure carrot top was a spirit, and so her uncle wouldn't have been able to see him.

"Hey." A familiar voice sounded. She looked up. Well be damned. It was carrot top. A dark haired girl stood next to him, dwarfed by his height.

"Hi Natsuki. I heard you went home early today. We were all so worried about you." The girl said in a way too sugary sweet voice.

"Well…I'll wash the dishes. You kids can have a few minutes to talk to Ari, but that's all. She needs her rest."

Hypocritical bastard.

"That's okay. We only wanted to talk with her for a few minutes anyways." That dark haired girl said in her singsong voice as Kousuke disappeared around the corner.

"Okay, who are you? I know carrot top over there, so no introduction needed for him, but you're another story." Ari said bluntly. Ichigo's eyes narrowed. The girl broke into a grin.

"Oh, my name is Kutchki Rukia. But you can call me Rukia." The girl responded, too sugary sweet, curtseying dramatically. It was obviously an act.

"Why are you here? How did you even FIND this place?"

"Your spirit energy is hard to miss." Carrot top said plainly. Rukia hit him on the head with a coiled fist.

"Hey! What the hell was that for-

"Oh silly. He doesn't know what he's talking about-

"Cut the crap."

"What?" Rukia's eyebrow twitched, a moment where her mask faltered. Ari went on.

"Your act is so easy to see through. If you're going to talk to me, talk to me plainly."

The mask fell off, revealing a more serious girl.

_Just what I expected._ Ari mused.

"Why are you here?"

"Fine. We've come to replace your memories. Soul Reaper business is a very serious thing, and we can't have you blabbing." Rukia said, reaching into a pocket in her light blue skirt.

"The hell you are!" Ari exclaimed, jumping back, clutching her shoulder so it didn't jostle.

"Don't struggle. It's better this way. You can continue your life as a normal high school student, and your shoulder can be easily healed without questions arising," Rukia said, gripping Ari's shoulder. Somehow she seemed to have magically appeared there. Ari looked over at Ichigo.

"You're seriously just going to stand there?"

"What choice do I have? Its orders."

Damn it. Ari bolted for the door, feeling a narrowly missed spray at the back of her head from the spray can she supposed would take her memories. The door gave way to her weight and hand immediately, swinging open. She bolted for the forest, wondering where Chihiro was. Maybe Chihiro could lift her up out of harms way or something. Then again, Chihiro seemed pretty scared of these Soul Reaper people.

"You're only making it worse for yourself!" She heard Rukia's voice right behind her. Ari pushed herself harder, ducking under branches, jumping over logs, wincing whenever a branch hit her bad shoulder. If she hadn't tripped, she might've missed it. But there-to her left, down the incline that way, an opening. A cave. A hiding place.

She heard the branches crack no more than fifty yards behind her. There was no time! She jogged down the slope, pushing against tree trunks to aid her speed. White hot pain ripped through her torso. Her stitches had torn open. Ari felt the wet warmth of blood seep down into her clothes. Gross. But the small cave was right in front of her. She reached the bottom of the hill, pushed off from the incline, and launched herself into the dark hole diver style.

She crawled as far into the cave as it would allow. Darkness swallowed the light that should have been streaming down inside. Her back against the back of the cave, she let herself rest for a minute.

"She's in that cave! Come on!" Rukia's voice floated over.

"Damn! How far did she run?" Ichigo asked, obviously out of breath.

"About six miles." Came the reply.

Ari stiffened, reaching around for anything to use for self defense. Her hand hit a large smooth stone. She used both hands to grab the stone, and shoved it into the inside pocket of her jacket. The larger rock would have to be used as a last resort-it would do her no good to chuck her strongest weapon only to have it not work.

She scraped her hands along the dirt, finding a couple of smaller rocks.

"Hey, there you are!" Ichigo's head popped in the cave's entrance. Ari chucked a rock at him.

"Ouch! Damn it! What did you do that for?"

"Ichigo! Stop fooling around!" Rukia's voice scolded.

"Who said I was fooling around? She threw a rock at me!"

"You poor baby."

"Shut up!"

Ari resisted an eye roll. Rukia's face popped in the entrance too.

"You may as well come out. You're cornered."

Ari decidedly popped another rock at Rukia. Unfortunately Rukia caught it.

"Its just as well." She said. Then she took the spray bottle, and before Ari could protest, sprayed it into the cave, leaving a mist. Ari breathed it in, and…nothing. She just felt sleepy. Rukia looked at her expectantly. Realizing she would have to play along, Ari let her eyes drift shut, and fell backwards, flinching only in her face when her shoulder slammed against the dirt. She hoped the darkness would cover that.

"Ok. Now we just need to heal the wound that hollow gave her and replace her shirt." Rukia's voice drifted over to her. Ari nearly smiled. Obviously, the darkness had hid her flinch.

"What? Why are you replacing her shirt?"

"To get rid of the blood, idiot."

"What?"

"You really are dense. Even if her memories are replaced, if she wakes up with blood all over her shirt, there's going to be questions that arise."

"Oh. Right. I knew that."

Ari heard footsteps come closer to her. She did her best to act like a limp doll as Rukia came up to her. A strange tingling began over her shoulder, and then the pain completely disappeared.

"There her wound's completely healed."

_What?_ The unanswered question drifted across Ari's mind as she finally drifted off, succumbing to the sleepiness.

Ari came to as they brought her back to her house.

"What the hell did you do to Ari?" Kousuke's voice was livid. A spraying sound, and then a thump. Groggy, Ari half opened her eyes, and saw that Ichigo was carrying her to her room. She went under again.


	5. Hatching

Ari woke up early. She knew it was early because the sun wasn't even up. Yet she felt wide awake. She took in a deep breath and sat up. Immediately she was assaulted by a tiny girl.

"Ari!"

"Chihiro." Ari grunted. The ghost girl ignored her, instead hugging tighter.

"Can't…breathe."

"Oh!" Chihiro said, instantly releasing.

"What happened?"

Chihiro's face fell.

"You mean you don't remember? So they did the same thing to you they did to your Uncle?"

"Yea, I think so. But, it didn't seem to work. I still remember you, and I remember the hollow. Why were you avoiding the Soul Reapers, anyways?" Ari asked. Chihiro went back to her telltale signal-staring at the floor.

"Chihiro!" Ari exclaimed in exasperation.

"The Soul Reapers…they put a mark on soul's heads…and send them to the afterlife."

"You don't want to go to the afterlife?" Ari asked.

"No! I want to stay here with you! Besides, I have a job to do!" Chihiro cried, lunging at Ari and hugging her tightly. Again. Ari took a deep breath.

"And what is-

_**Crack!**_

Ari and Chihiro both jumped and looked towards the sound. Ari reached for her lamp, and tugged the chain. The light clicked on. A polished blue object rolled around on the carpeted floor, strange growling sounds coming from it.

"What-what is that?" Ari stuttered, scrambling up on her bed and inching as far away from the possessed rock as possible.

"Well I noticed you came back without your jacket…so I went and grabbed it. It was heavy, but I figured the thing inside it was a keepsake when I looked at it, so I put it on your dresser and waited for you to wake up." Chihiro responded. But something was wrong-Chihiro didn't seem scared at all of the rolling rock. The 'rock' burst open, and a contorted figure stumbled out of it, covered in a black goop that looked like the remains of the embryo.

"That THING…was an egg?"

Chihiro said nothing.

The creature poked its head through the embryo sack. Big, bright purple irises stared at Ari. The head was wet-it looked to be covered in thin black fur. The creature shoved a neck through the hole in the embryo sack, and then turned in an awkward position to start…eating it?

_Oh…gross…._Ari had to look away, trying not to barf.

"You can look now." Chihiro's voice said. Ari glared at the girl sitting calmly on the side of her bed. Chihiro knew something about this.

Begrudgedly, Ari took a look a look at the creature crawling around on the floor. It had….six legs? The creature took the two limbs on its back and stretched them out, yawning. No, wings. Webbed wings from the look of it-the fingers of the wings were covered in the wet black fuzz, which ended, and the majority of the wings were covered in white fuzz. Ari met its gaze. Instantly, she melted. The creature was cute.

She got off the bed, and walked over to the creature. As Ari knelt down, the creature crawled up to her, letting out a cute chirp. She smiled and brought a hand to pet it. Like a strike of lightning, the baby creature snapped its jaws around her hand. Icy pain froze her in time. Her entire arm lit up, the light shining bright enough to cast out the darkness in her room. When the creature let go, Ari collapsed. The light went out.

Immediately Chihiro rushed over to her.

"Sorry Ari! I couldn't stop it-you had to be marked!" she cried. Tears were running down Chihiro's face as she grabbed a towel off the bedpost (Ari had left it there for showers) and wrapped it around Ari's arm, trying to stop the bleeding that had started to pour from the strange inscriptions formed on it. But Ari couldn't hear her.

_You found me. _

The young voice was satisfied, the sentence and feeling from it reaching every corner of Ari's mind.

_Who are you?_

The creature padded up to her side, curling up to her. Instantly she recognized it.

_You're that jerk creature that bit me! _

The critter opened one purple iris lazily, and snuggled closer to her.

_Yes, I am. I had to mark you as my Master. _

_What?_

Irritated, the creature sat up. Staring up into Ari's eyes, he responded.

_I am your lifelong ally. I will become your closest friend. I am your dragon._

He spread his wings, and for a moment, Ari saw what he was to grow into. He was beautiful. Magnificent. The image faded, and the hatchling stood by her side again.

_Ari. It's time for you to wake up now._

_A/N: so what do you think? I'm not so sure about this idea. There's a lot of potential in it, though. _


	6. The Dragon Masters

Ari awoke to a sobbing sound, and a sharp stinging through her arm.

"Chihiro?"

The little ghost girl looked up at her through tear soaked eyes.

"Quit crying already. I'm fine." Ari assured, getting up into a sitting position.

"Your..*sniff*..arm..*sniff*"

For the first time, Ari noticed the white towel clamped around her arm. She unwrapped it, and nearly retched. The inside of the towel was no longer white. It was a deep red. The horrible smell emanating from it was the worst part.

"Yuck," she noted, and then used the clean side of the towel to wipe her arm and hand clean of the remaining blood. The stinging in her arms started to fade, replaced by a strong tingling sensation. She watched, as the puckered weird lines that were carved up on her arm turned black and expanded. Then the tingling disappeared altogether.

Standing up, she walked over to her dresser and looked into the mirror that was attached at the top. Her large emerald eyes stared back at her, highlighted by the deep violet of her hair, which fell in gentle waves down to the middle of her back. But there, between her finely shaped eyebrows and slightly above, was a symbol of some sort. Studying it, she realized it looked like a sun with a half formed moon inside of it, complete with flames on the outer rim of the circle. The black etching made her look even more alien than she already did.

Her dragon hatchling jumped up onto the dresser. Absentmindedly, she stroked it, taking note that the fuzz on the dragon's body was actually a thin layer of tiny feathers, and they were differently colored than what she had originally thought. The body feathers were actually a deep blue, and she could see through them well enough to see the immature scales underneath them were red. The membranes of the wings were pretty thin, but the layers of feathers on them were thicker than on the rest of the body, and were actually a silvery shade of blue. Four alien looking paws kept the dragon hatchling upright. They had the solidity of a lion's paw, yet the tiny black claws protruding from them were more bird like.

Chirping strangely, the dragon leapt lightly onto her shoulder, cat-like in grace and accuracy. Catching sight of the markings on her arm, slowly Ari turned. With her other arm, she reached over and stroked the dragon's soft neck and head.

"What did you do to me?" She whispered. At the point on the back of her hand where the dragon had bit her, two thick half moon markings stood back to back. Erupting from them could only be described as the thick outlines of an upside down flame. Within the flame the markings curled and twisted gracefully.

"It suits you perfectly," Chihiro said, beaming. Chihiro. Ari turned and marched up to where she was sitting on the bed.

"You knew something about this." It wasn't a question. Chihiro cast her eyes to the floor, twisting her legs around themselves nervously.

"I couldn't tell you."

"Yea, well you better start telling me. Everything. Now."

Chihiro looked up at Ari cautiously. She let out a sigh.

"Okay. The truth is, I've already cross over to Soul Society. Soul Society is where you go when you die if you haven't committed terrible crimes during life. I'm three hundred and seventy-five years old. I lived in a part of Soul Society called Rukangai. District 33." As she said this, the gaping hole on her head dissolved, leaving a normal looking scalp. Ari opened her mouth, but Chihiro shushed her with a finger to her lips. Chihiro did indeed seem to have become much more mature as she continued talking.

"My family and I harbored the very last true dragon eggs in the entire universe. There are five of them. When a dragon's master is born, the egg starts to hum in response. It works like a homing signal-the louder the egg hums, the closer their master is. A dragon cannot hatch without the touch of their master."

"Now, the dragons and their masters were the original soul reapers, so to speak. They came into existence when the universe did. It's only been within the past couple of thousand years that the soul reapers you see today came into existence. Anyways, the dragons and their masters were the models for peace. They were courageous, endearing, gentle, and strong. Everyone in all the worlds knew the markings given to the Dragon masters. They were loved by their allies and those they protected, and hated by their enemies. However, there came along a dragon master named Rafael. He had been a youth when a dragon had chosen him, and as his training continued, the higher ranked dragon masters saw he had great potential. When he was deemed experienced enough, he and his dragon were sent out to destroy a hollow that had been destroying cities in the place you now call London. He and his dragon were victorious, but not before the hollow had managed to infect him with a piece of its soul. That piece of hollow soul corrupted Rafael's, and with his soul corrupted, so was his dragons-because the souls of a dragon and its master are intricately intertwined. The hollow's bloodlust consumed him and his dragon. Perhaps if he and his dragon had been older, it would not have affected him. However, it did. As such, when Rafael returned, he caught the other dragon masters unawares, and slaughtered four dragons and their masters before retreating."

"Now you'd think that four masters and dragons wouldn't make that big of a difference overall, but it did. To begin with there were never more than fifty dragons and their masters in the worlds-ever. And at this time, the newer Soul Reapers and their zanpakto were well established, and numerous. This slaughter brought an uproar-this was a serious danger to the universe, as dragons and their masters were far more powerful than any Soul Reaper with a mere zanpakto could be. It was decided sorrowfully that Rafael and his dragon would be put to death for the safety of others. However, Rafael and his dragon were cunning in their bloodlust, attacking when all was calm. In total, the pair killed twenty five masters and their dragons, countless humans and innocent souls, and about three hundred Zanpakto wielding Soul Reapers. The dragons and their masters tried desperately to quelm the situation. But nearly every pair of dragons and masters they sent out had been slaughtered. The newer soul reapers had had enough. Though no single zanpakto wielding Soul Reaper could face off a dragon and master, or even ten, they were far more numerous than the dragons and their masters. And so, in huge numbers they sent an army to destroy Rafael and his dragon. After a long and strenuous battle lasting three days, they succeeded. However, to prevent this from happening again, it was secretly decided that all Masters and their dragons were to be put to death. A large celebration was held after the defeat of Rafael and his dragon. All the remaining masters and their dragons were invited to attend."

"A poison was slipped in the dragons' and masters' drinks. To remain undetected, the poison would not activate until later that evening, when it was too late to raise alarm. And so the dragons and their riders died. A few supportive families grabbed the few eggs that generation of dragons had laid, and fled."

"Why were the dragons and their masters so much stronger than the regular Soul Reapers?" Ari asked. Chihiro looked at her, the knowledge brimming from her eyes unfitting to her youthful appearance.

"A regular Soul Reaper holds its zanpakto's spirit within their own body. As such, there is a limit to how much power one Soul Reaper as that can hold. However, when there are two bodies, especially one that can hold as much power as a dragon can, it multiplies the spiritual power limit at least three or four times."

Ari nodded, staring down at her dragon, who had taken to sleeping on her lap contentedly. Suddenly the little girl Chihiro came back.

"Now sleep, silly! You have school in a few hours!" She said, giggling.


	7. Eavesdropping

A loud chirp woke Ari up. Faintly she could hear the snores of her Uncle in the next room.

"Someone please, shut the bird up." She grumbled sleepily, closing her eyes again. A growl, then something closed sharply around her left fore-arm. She shot up out of bed, snapping her arm to the left. An indignated squawk followed as the teeth were ripped from her forearm with the force of the movement.

"Ari! You should really be careful with your hatchling. What's his name, anyways?" Chihiro asked, placing the dragon hatchling back on Ari's stomach. Something trickled into Ari's mind-that's the best she could explain it. It literally felt like a trickling inside her mind. Once there, she had impression that it held a scolding tone. Certain she was imagining things, she tried to brush the feeling aside. The dragon hatchling brought up a forepaw and….smacked the side of her face?

"Open your mind already." Chihiro said cutely, yet rolling her eyes. Ari swung her legs out the side of the bed and stood up, realizing she was still in the clean uniform the Soul Reaper Rukia had put her in after 'erasing' her memories. She turned to the ghost who didn't look like she was out of grade school yet.

"Open my what?"

"Oh silly. Your mind. Dragons talk to their masters through telepathy. In fact, it's quite rude to keep your mind sealed to your partner," Chihiro informed, swinging the pigtails her hair was in today and beaming as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"You gotta be kidding me." Ari stated, glancing at the clock. The dragon jumped down its perch on her shoulder and started rubbing against her side much like a cat would, making a small rumbling noise.

"Shit I don't have time for this! I'm going to be late again!" she exclaimed. She scrambled up to grab a brush on her dresser, and realized a big problem.

"How am I going to cover this up?" Ari asked, motioning towards the marks on her arm. No response. Frantically, Ari started ripping opening drawers, eventually finding a long sleeved plain white shirt, which she shoved on under her short sleeved school uniform blouse. Now-the marking on her forehead-how was she going to cover that up? Thinking quickly, she brushed through her hair, shoved it into the regular hair bun, and grabbed a black hat and shoved it onto her head. The only thing different was that she let her side bangs show-thankfully they covered the marking. Hopefully the kids at school would only see it as highlights in her hair.

She turned to grab her book bag and put her shoes on, to see a lightly feathered tail disappear into her book bag.

"Oh no you-

"He has to." Chihiro said calmly, appearing next to Ari.

"Why?" Ari demanded, impatient to get going.

Chihiro looked at her calmly.

"You were just bound to your dragon last night. Your very souls were manipulated so they could be connected. The connection is not yet strong enough to stand the stress of you two being far away from each other. It would break, and both of you would die."

Ari froze. Chihiro went into her closet, and re-appeared with a larger bag. Her backpack.

"I suggest you use this instead, nee-chan. That way the hatchling will have a pocket all to himself." Chihiro said, beaming and looking more like a child.

"You seriously need to stop switching between little girl Chihiro and adult acting Chihiro." Ari stated.

"What do you mean?" Chihiro asked cutely, sucking on a finger. Ari shook her head, taking the backpack.

"Nevermind."

Chihiro's face turned serious again.

"Now, because he's a newly hatched infant, people without spiritual powers won't be able to see your dragon. However, your new school seems to have an unusual number of people with spiritual power, so I suggest you keep him hidden."

"When will normal people be able to see him?"

"In about a week, when he sheds all his down feathers." Then Chihiro smiled brightly.

"See you when you come home, Nee-chan!"

"Hey! What about food for it?"

"He's a boy, you should know that by now! Oh, and any raw meat will do."

Ew.

A few minutes later, Ari was all packed up and heading out. The sun was shining brightly. Not sure how this was going to work out-Ari set off at a jog-her dragon hatchling peeking over her shoulder out of the unzipped space Ari had left for him to breath.

"Hey you-get back in there!" Ari scolded, reaching back and pushing on the hatchling's head. He snorted in her ear unhappily before reluctantly retreating back into the backpack.

"Hey! Its Natsuki, right?" a familiar voice called. _Shit_

_You better stay in that bag! _She thought at her hatchling. Surprisingly, a faint response was returned to her. Before she had time to focus on it, a hand on her shoulder made her turn. A tall, orange haired teenager came into view. _Great. Its Carrot Top. _

She knew she had to play along-as if her memories had indeed been erased. However..

"Who are you?" She asked, carefully putting a tone of irritation into her voice.

"Oh, my name's Ichigo Kurosaki. I go to the same school as you-thought you'd like to know where it is."

"I think I can find my own way, thanks." Ari said, extending her stride, hoping to pull away from him. Ichigo just increased his pace.

"So where are you from?" Ichigo asked after a few more minutes of walking. Ari sighed.

"A place called Rosetta town."

"Rosetta, huh." He seemed to contemplate this. A silence fell over the two, as they walked the rest of the way to Karakura High.

"Ichigo!"

Both Ari and Ichigo looked up. A thin teenager with glasses and straight shoulder length black hair walked towards them. Ari took note of the proud, yet quiet way the teenager walked, with his shoulders back and head held high.

"Hey Uryuu!" Ichigo responded, waving his hand high over his head. Seeing her chance, Ari started veering off to the left. Too late. Like magic, the other boy appeared in front of them.

"Who's this?" Uryuu asked, gesturing to Ari. Ichigo glanced over at her.

"Oh. This is-

"Ari Natsuki," Ari introduced, offering her hand. Uryuu considered it for a moment, and then took it, lightly slipping his hand through hers and giving it a quick shake before retreating. A look passed between Ichigo and Uryuu.

"You know where your next class is, don't you?" Uryuu asked, clearly trying to dismiss her.

_And I bet they're going to start talking about me as soon as I leave. _Ari thought. Her dragon snorted softly in agreement through the pouch in her backpack.

"Yep. Bye." Ari said, walking up to the doors of the school and opening them. But instead of going to her class, she turned and put her back to the divider between the two doors-careful not to squish her hatchling. She kept the left door open just a crack. She tried to be as silent as possible, and to hear over the murmur of the students in the hallway going to their classes.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked.

"Her spirit ribbon is gold."

"Gold? I thought there were only red or white spirit ribbons."

Uryuu let a sigh.

"Ichigo, my spirit ribbon is blue. There are more beings with spiritual patterns than just Soul Reapers."

"Oh. Okay, so what does hers mean?"

"I don't know. You said she could see spirits, right?"

"Well yea."

"Hmm…let's send a message to Urahara about it. Perhaps he'll come up with something."

The hatchling let out a loud, impatient chirp in Ari's ear. Ari jumped, and reached back to clasp her hand around the hatchlings mouth. Turning, she bolted. Her stomach growled loudly as she threw herself into the swarm of students.


	8. A Name

A/N: Wow. It seems this story is bringing a lot more interest than I thought it would. Thanks for all your support! ;)-JkayChase

When she was sure she was out of sight of Ichigo and Uryuu-that she had lost them, she made her way to the large windowed room labeled 'main office'. She had to get her schedule, anyways. Opening the doors to the office, she was immediately prompted.

"Please take off your hat, miss. It's against the school dress code."

_Damn._ Ari looked around and found the one that was speaking to her. It was a tall lady with short curly brown hair. An identification card saying she was 'Missus Sango Hiro" hung around her neck, and square glasses rimmed brown eyes on a face that was hawk like. Go figure. Reluctantly Ari removed her hat.

_Oh hell with it. _She decided, and reached up, unwrapping the band around her hair. A disgruntled puff of warm air accompanied a snort in her ear.

_Go back into the backpack. _Ari thought absentmindedly. To her surprise, the dragon listened, retreating once again into the confines of the backpack.

_I need to think of a name for you…_she realized, running her fingers through her hair to get rid of the loose tangles.

"Miss, I will need to confiscate your hat for the rest of the day." Mrs. Hiro said. The woman's eyes focused on Ari a little too much-and not at her face much either. _That is exactly why I wanted to wear the thing. And the fact that it's a nice hat. I like it. _

A feeling of agreement seeped into her mind. Blinking in confusion, Ari handed the hat over to the teacher, deciding to fix a permanent glare on the lady. The teacher visibly shifted her gaze, and started to fidget.

_Yea. Weird looking teenager scares middle aged teacher. The usual. I'm totally terrifying._

A strange coughing sound erupted from her backpack. Mrs. Hiro, of course, couldn't hear it. It occurred to Ari that the hatchling was laughing. The teacher smoothed her skirt down, avoiding Ari's eyes.

"Alright then, you may return to going to class."

_Return to going to class? That isn't even correct grammer._

"Actually, I'm here for my class schedule. I'm Ari Natsuki."

"Oh! Yes. It's you, the new student."

The lady hurried behind the counter which created an encirclement barricade from the rest of the room, and began opening drawers to small cabinets and going through files.

"Ahh! Here we go, Ari Natsuki, Class 3."

Ari took the paper stretched out to her, giving Mrs. Hiro a small smile. The woman let out a small breath.

_What, was she afraid I was some kind of juvenile delinquent?_

_Juvenile delinquent?_Her thought was echoed.

_No matter, I gotta get to class._

Ari hurried out of the office, asking for directions once, and then hurrying down the hallways told, ignoring the stares of the other students. Panting, she stopped in front of the door labeled 'Class 3' and walked in. Looking in, the first thing that stuck out to her was a head full of orange hair.

_Damn._

_It._

_All.  
_

_To._

_Hell._

Of course she had to get stuck in a room for the day with HIM. Carrot top was talking to his encirclement of friends, though, and thankfully didn't notice her. Ari hurried to an empty desk, hoping to turn invisible. A tickle touched the corner of her mind. It seemed to want to know why she didn't like the guy with orange hair. Without thinking, she responded with the memory of being chased through the forest. A growl erupted from her backpack.

_Bad. Bad man._

She slipped her backpack off and rested it gently on the floor, sitting down.

_That was you?_ Ari asked. An acknowledgement was made, and the dragon hatchling popped its head out of its pocket to nod at her cutely. Then, an overpowering hunger consumed her. It felt like she hadn't eaten in days. No, months, even. She pushed the dragon hatchling's head back into the backpack, and went to search through the main part of her backpack for the pack of beef jerky she had stowed away while on the light rail. Her hands clasped around the package, and she brought it up, triumphantly.

_Hungry._

_Yea, I know I am._  
_No. Me._

_What?_

"So. What a surprise seeing you here."

Ari nearly dropped the bag of beef jerky. The hatchling squirmed in the backpack impatiently.

_Hungry._

Ari quieted 'shh'ed' at her backpack, to which her dragon quit squirming and gave her a picture of a scowl. She felt Uryuu's stare on her back. Ari rose up with a fake smile, pointedly putting the backpack between her feet under her desk.

"Oh hey..its Uryuu, right?" she asked, trying to be friendly.

"It's Ishida to you," he responded coldly, and then went back to reading his book.

_What's with this guy?_

_Hungry._ The dragon said pointedly. Ari rolled her eyes, and opened the beef jerky package. She took a bite out of slice to herself, and then took another slice of beef jerky and tore it into little pieces, shoving them into the air hole, which had grown since the dragon had poked his head out several times. She zipped it back up, leaving the air hole the amount of space it originally had.

_Too Squeezy._

Ari realized he was talking about the backpack.

_Sorry, but you're going to have stay in there._

_Yum. Hungry. More._

Ari tore two more strips apart and dropped them into the air hole.

_Ok, I gotta think of a name for you. _She said, nibbling on her strip.

_It has to be ancient. Or at least decent sounding. _She decided.

She felt the hatchling's agreement tickle the back of her mind.

_Haku? _Ari felt the dragon's snort.

_Ok, not that one. Umm…Arom?_

_No._

Hmmm….

A brown haired woman walked into the room.

"Good morning class. You might've noticed-we have a new student in our midst today."

_Oh. Spectacular._

"Natsuki? Natsuki Ari?"

Slowly, reluctantly, Ari stood up. The hatchling paused in eating.

Some of them glanced up at her, went back to what they were doing, then took a double take. Others stared openly at her strange features. Ichigo glanced up, and then brought the attention of the others in his group back to whatever conversation they were having. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the obvious nice gesture. A snort of laughter came from behind her.

"So-what kind of dye job is that? And those eyes. They're fake, right? God you look like such a freak."

Ari bit her tongue, anger rising violently like a lion within her. Her hatchling growled a warning loudly, though no one could hear it. In the corner of her eye, Ichigo tensed, then turned.

"What the hell's your problem?" he growled to the other student. You could have heard a pin drop.

"That's quite enough!" the teacher called, rapping her desk with a ruler.

"Now both of you, back to your desks. Mr. Maru, I will see you after school."

Maru and Kurosaki glared at each other for a moment before sitting down. Ari sat down as well, her face burning with embarrassment.

Inside the backpack, the hatchling struggled.

_I. Bite. Bite mean boy hard!_

Ari let a small smile cross her face. _No._

The struggling inside her backpack ceased. A pat on her shoulder made her turn. Uryuu looked at her out of the corner of his eye for a brief moment, then retracted his arm and went back to reading. What was that-that emotion that had flashed through his eye for a split second? Sympathy? Crossly, Ari turned her focus to the blackboard, where the teacher was writing equations. She didn't need anybody's sympathy.

The math lesson slowly slid into the next lesson-history. Ari doodled in her notebook, already bored and not listening. It was some history lesson about some war officer named Reminai and his lieutenant. A sharp poke at her temple interrupted her drawing.

_That name._

Ari raised an eyebrow. _Reminai?_

The dragon chirped in satisfaction. Uryuu glanced at her for a quick second.

_Shh. Okay. Reminai it is._

_A/N: So-what did you think?_


	9. Attacked

_A/N: Again, thanks for the reviews. Here's the next chapter._

It seemed like forever before the bell rang for lunch break. Ari followed the rush of students out the door, down a hallway, down a flight of steps, out a back door of the school. She tried to ignore the blatant stares the students were giving her, instead realizing she had forgotten to pack a lunch. Great. Her stomach grumbled loudly.

_Ari hungry?_

_Yep. _

A pause. Then, _Out of backpack?_

Ari glanced around the grassy area. Rem had been in the backpack for four hours. She ducked into a patch of trees, twisting her way around tree trunks and over brambles on the ground to get to the middle of it. Cautiously, she slipped her backpack off and she opened the zipper. Reminai shot out of the hole as if hell's demons were after him, shooting straight up the bark of a tree and resting in one of the higher branches, chirping loudly, stretching his feathered wings. She smiled, and reached for him. Rem snarled and raised his wings, but there was a playful tone to it. Ari grinned devilishly, and leapt for the branch. Squwaking, the hatchling clumsily flapped away, landing on a branch of the tree next to it. A bird startled up, nearly knocking Rem off of the branch in its hasty flight upwards. Reminai jumped back, startled, and then leapt after the bird, his teeth catching the tail feathers of the bird. The bird chirped fearfully, flapping hard to get away.

But Reminai had the bird's tail feathers firmly between his jaws, and as he fell, so did the bird. Ari launched herself under the falling hatchling, catching him in her arms.

_Let go._

Reminai immediately released. The bird shot up in to the air and disappeared over the tops of the trees. Rem gave Ari a questioning look.

_Ari hungry?_

_Yea-but humans don't eat meat that way._

The hatchling seemed to contemplate this.

_Then what do you eat, Ari?_

It was the most grammatically correct sentence he had ever said. Ari smiled.

_I'll show you later._

_But Ari's hungry now._ The hatchling insisted.

_Nah. I'm fine. _

Rem looked up at her with round, violet irises.

A loud crash made both of them look up. A movement in the trees. Ari flung herself sideways, twisting so as not to crush Rem on impact. The attack hit the trees, and the creature turned, a tree ripped from its roots in its huge white mouth.

_What? Another hollow?_

But this one was different than the other. This one stood on two legs-it looked more humanoid. A tail that looked as though it belonged to an alligator swung behind him. Above the gaping hole in its chest, a short stumpy neck gave root to a masked face shaped like an upside down triangle with horns that spiraled back.

"Mmm….you smell delicious!" the hollow said, chuckling. Rem snarled.

_Go away mean biggie! _

An insane, totally inappropriate for the moment laugh bubbled up Ari's throat, forcing itself through.

"Hmmm? How interesting. I've never seen a creature like that before. Tell me, what is it? Before I eat you both, that is." The hollow asked, red eyes gleaming. Without answering, Ari tightened her grip on Reminai, turned and jumped to her feet, springing quickly into a dash for the outside of the trees.

"Very well then!" the hollow said, and from the crashing noises in the trees behind them, Ari knew it was following them. She ducked under branches, and seeing the grassy areas beyond the trees, increased the speed powering her legs. A reflex jerked her sideways, and the hollow's teeth closed around another tree, splintering it to pieces. Ari launched out of the trees.

_Mean biggie being mean! Ari, let Rem go! Rem fight! Rem protect Ari!"_

"Don't be stupid," Ari whispered, adjusting her arms for a firmer grip on the squirming hatchling.

It seemed everyone had gone back to class. That is, except for one group. The hollow crashed through the trees behind her, and leapt.

"RUN!" the word tore itself free from her throat at the group. Ishida looked up. Ichigo's eyes met hers. A girl with long hair the color of Ichigo's brought her hands to the sides of her head. A firm arm wrapped itself around Ari's stomach from the side and lifted her up. Reminai growled and bit into the darker colored arm, which didn't flinch at all, despite the blood now running down it. The arm brought Reminai and Ari to the back of the group. Looking up, she saw that the arm was attached to a large, Hispanic teenager.

"Baigan! Hinagiku! Lily! Santen Kesshun I reject!"


	10. The Unexpected

A/N: I'm kind of proud of this chapter. Hope you guys like it! :D

_What?_ Ari watched as the girl's…hair pins burst from her hair and formed a triangular shaped orange light. The hollow bashed into it, and reeled back, stunned. Uryuu stepped forth, and from his arm sprung a bow and arrow set that seemed to be made of bright white light. He dug his feet into the ground, and let the arrow fly. Seeing her chance, Ari dropped down, slipping out of the Hispanic teen's grasp, and bolted, trying to hide Rem as best she could with her arms-her backpack was back in the patch of trees. Her head ran into something.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" A familiar voice rang out.

_Damn. _She tried to duck under Carrot Top's arm on her head, but somehow he managed to match her every move. Ari glanced back. The hollow was gone. The group was staring at her. Great. She only hoped they didn't see Reminai, and urged the dragon hatchling to be as quiet and as still as possible with her mind.

"We just saved your butt for the second time and you're going to run away?" Ichigo said, sounding angry.

_Well when you put it that way….._

"Second time?" Ari asked innocently.

"Quit fooling around. If a person's riatsu is strong enough, the spray won't work on them. You've been leaking your riatsu all over the place. Obviously, it can't have worked on you. I don't know how Ichigo and Rukia could have made such a mistake." Ishida said matter of factly. Ichigo glared at him.

"Why you!"

"Enough Ichigo. He's right." A voice said. Ari looked over-it was that Rukia person. Ari fixed a glare on Rukia as the Soul Reaper walked up to her.

"Now-what do we do with you?" Rukia's gaze shifted to Ari's arms, and her expression changed to one of curiosity.

"What's that you're holding?"

"Huh? She's holding something?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes, idiot, she is. Only a bafoon like yourself would fail to notice it." Ishida said coolly, earning another growl from Ichigo. A chill rippled through the air. The sky started getting darker. Reminai brought his head up and growled. Everyone's eyes were drawn to the hatchling as he scanned the skies.

_More big meanies are coming._

_Why?_

Reminai looked at her.

_We smell good._

Reverberating roars shook the air. All around them, swirling black circles formed. Ari's eyes narrowed.

_Is that where they come from?_

Reminai let out something that sounded like a cross between a growl and a loud chirp, snapping the air warningly.

"Chad, get her out of here."

The Hispanic teen nodded towards Rukia, and a strong arm lifted Ari up and over his shoulder like a ragdoll.

"Hey!" Ari yelled, as much scrambling to not crush Reminai as Reminai was scrambling not to BE crushed. Settling on Ari's back, he nipped the huge guy's ear, chirping what was clearly a scold.

"Hmm. Sorry."

With that, Chad launched himself down the road, running like a madman. Reminai's claws dug painfully into Ari's back-the only way he could hold on. Ari reached back with some difficulty and grabbed him, wedging the hatchling in the crook of Chad's neck, securing with a hand.

_Who knew someone so large could move so fast?_

"Hey-Chad is it?"

The teen grunted under a full head of curly dark hair.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere safe." He replied simply, and kept running. Suddenly he skidded to a stop, lurching so suddenly Ari and Reminai nearly fell off. Reminai snarled.

_Big meanie!_

_Oh, great._

The roar nearly broke Ari's eardrums. From the sound of it, the hollow was right in front of them.

Chad's shoulder began to grow hot. Blinking, Ari stared in disbelief.

_He's…glowing white?_

The tendrils of light that were emanating from him focused on his other arm. There was a flash, and then the entire arm was different. It was…purple with black stripes. It looked as though it were made of rubber or something-definitely not skin. And the shoulder-it didn't even look like a shoulder anymore. There was this horn like structure that grew to the point where it was taller than Chad's head that covered the outside of it.

Chad drew his arm back, the hand curled into a fist. Ari's eyes narrowed….he intended to punch the hollow? Seriously? But the hollow wasn't even in range…

When Chad threw his fist forward, a flash of light much like the light he had been emanating followed the path. It rumbled and shook the ground, the concrete throwing up dust as it went. It hit the hollow faster than Ari thought possible, resounding with a loud crack as though it had hit something made of glass. The hollow's scream filled the air as it drew its black painted fingers to its cracking mask, writhing terribly. Its skin began to split in various places, light streaming from the split skin. With a final scream and a flash, the hollow disintegrated.

_What? _Ari stared at the spot the hollow had been in, disbelief crawling up her features.

"We better get going," Chad said, and he started running again. He weaved in between people, across walkways, and then turned sharply into an alley, nearly cracking Ari's head open on the side of the wall.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, will ya?" the snap was out of her mouth before she could stop it. Chad didn't respond, only kept running.

_Damn._

"Look, sorry. I didn't mean that."

Still no response.

Blood curdling laughter filled the air, and Chad screeched to a stop once again.

"We've found you! And those delicious smelling souls!" a wicked, high pitched voice called. Ari snapped her head up, towards the sound of the voice. Reminai growled a warning to the three hollows standing on top of the buildings on either side of them. The one shaped like an alligator standing on two feet dropped down in front of them, snapping his terrible jaws in front of them. Drooling.

The one shaped like a contorted centaur dropped down on the other side of them, effectively blocking off their only escape.

"There's no escape now, my pretties." The one still up on the roofs called.

Good grief. What was this, the Wizard of Oz?

Chad grunted, and drew his arm back towards the alligator hollow. He thrust it forward, along with that amazing light that followed once again. But this hollow wasn't subdued like the other ones. It dodged faster than Ari could even see and lunged at them, mouth open wide.

Chad swung around, and there was a sickening crunch as the alligator's mouth closed around his purple arm. Ari stared in horror as deep red blood dripped down from Chad's arm. No sharp intake of breath, no grunt, no sound from Chad suggested he had sustained the terrible laceration he had. Then Chad's skin began to grow hot again, and a flash of light thrust itself from his arm, blowing up the hollow from the inside out. But no blood, pieces of bone, or anything hit them somehow as the hollow disintegrated. Somehow.

Chad took the opening it gave, and threw himself into a run again down the alleyway.

"That won't work!" A voice snarled, and Ari was thrown from Chad's shoulder as he crashed to the ground. On reflex, she twisted in the air, holding Reminai to her chest as her back slammed against the hard concrete. Her head followed after, bouncing off the ground with a force that stunned her. Blurry visioned, she saw the fuzzy outline of the hollow over Chad's struggling body.

"You didn't really think you could escape, did you?" the hollow mocked, hooves resting on Chad's shoulders and hips, earning a cry of pain from him.. A cold wave of fear washed over Ari.

_Is this…really happening?_ Was the only thing her mind could register. Reminai snarled. The hollow bent its antlered head and torso down to sniff at Chad's neck. It licked its lipless boned jaws.

"Mmm..I'm going to enjoy this…" he said, opening his mouth wide.

"NO!"

The scream tore from Ari's throat, causing the hollow to pause. Ari was up and running towards the hollow before her mind registered what was happening. Reminai held tightly onto her shoulder, but she didn't even feel his claws anymore. She swung herself up onto the hollow's back, reaching down and grasping the antlers that protruded from the top of its mask, using her weight to wrench the hollow's head up and back.

"What the hell are you doing girl? Let go of me!" the hollow demanded, trying to reach back and dislodge her. But the best he could do was scrape at the air above him-Ari had her legs curled tightly around his torso's abdomen for support, and with his head wrenched back, he couldn't do anything about it-he had no leverage. Reminai reached forward and fastened his teeth on the back of the hollow's head. Ari felt warmth seep through her body. Fear deserted her. Bright green light began to flow from from Reminai's body, and she saw from her arms, that the light was flowing from her as well. For a moment, it was as if she could feel the hollow's mask clenched between Reminai's teeth. There was a sickening crunch, and Reminai's teeth went all the way through. The hollow began to scream, twisting in pain. It jumped to the side and began to gallop, trying to escape.

Power surged through her, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. The hollow's legs collapsed beneath it, throwing Ari forward. She looked at her stomach, rolling the momentum away as she hit the ground, somehow managing to come out of it in a crouching position towards the hollow. Reminai was still on the hollow's head.

The hollow's arms fell slack, and the torso hit the ground limply. Light poured from its head wound, and it disintegrated. Satisfied, Reminai returned to Ari, standing up on his hindlegs, forepaws on her shoulders. Reminai rested his head in the crook of her neck, sighing contentedly.

_Wait…did he just grow? Last time I checked, Rem wasn't that big._

Ari grasped the hatchling around the middle and stood up. _Yep, he's definitely heavier. _

For the first time she noticed the small feathers littering the ground. She held the dragon hatchling up. The down feathers on his body were decidedly thinner, showing more of the scales underneath. Ari decided to ask Chihiro about it later. A groan brought her attention to the form lying on the ground. The other hollow seemed to have deserted them.

"Chad!" she exclaimed, running over to him. There were hoofprints on his back-looking like they had been burned through his clothes onto his skin. The teenager, incredibly, after a moment of lying there, rolled onto his side and heaved himself into a sitting position. Faltered a moment, and then rose to a standing position.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ari asked. Chad glanced at her, and then gave her a thumbs up.

_Total lie._

Reminai snorted in agreement.


	11. No Hiding Now

A/N: Looking back on my writing, I realized that some of my chapters were less than great in writing style. I plan to fix those as soon as possible. Meanwhile, here's the next chappie.

Chad took a few steps forward, only to collapse once more, this time on his back. The purple arm burst into light, and returned to its normal form.

"Hey!"

Chad only grunted in response. Ari scrambled over to him. The puncture wounds in his arm were deep, and bleeding profusely.

_I'm gonna regret this. _Ari thought, reluctantly unbuttoning her school blouse to reveal the long sleeved white shirt underneath it. She looked at Reminai.

"Come here," she said, wondering if he would respond. Reminai paddled over to her, his body twisting in lizard-like fashion under his wings. Ari picked him up, grabbing a forepaw in her other hand and using one of his tiny claws to make a rip in the fabric along her shoulder. She switched hands holding the dragon, and did the same with the other.

"Thanks." She muttered when setting the dragon down, wondering if he even understood what she was saying to him. Reminai blinked, and then chirped an affirmative.

_Whatever. _

Ari tore her sleeves off carefully, trying not to peel off more fabric than was needed. She put the ripped sleeves next to his arm, gauging how to wrap them around to help with the bleeding.

_Damn. This guy's huge-if I'm lucky with the sleeves the way they are, I'll be able to wrap each around his arm twice. _

As such, Ari rethought her plan, tearing the sleeves length-wise, making them thicker. Chad's irregular, strained breathing started to relax.

"Hey! Don't you _dare _fall unconscious on me," she growled. When he didn't respond, she brought the palm of her hand back and slapped his cheek with all the force she could muster.

"Wake up!"

Chad's breathing became irregular and deeper again.

"Thanks." He managed between breaths. Ari brought her attention back to his arm.

_Hey..what's that? _She wondered. Thin trails of dark blue something ran down his arm from his wounds along with the blood. Her eyes widened in realization.

_SHIT! It's venom! It's gotta be._

Venom?

Ari ignored Reminai's voice in her head. Somehow, she had to squeeze the venom out of Chad's body without letting him bleed too much. Reminai nudged her with his nose.

_Feel._

_Feel?_

The hatchling gently wrapped his mouth around her hand and laid it on an unbroken patch of Chad's arm. A wave of nausea and sickness crashed into Ari. It was overpowering-she couldn't…but she felt it. Or rather saw it. The venom was almost to Chad's heart. She could see it in the sickly green color of his veins, rather than the blue they were supposed to be.

_Fix the picture. Fix Chad. _

Ari did as Reminai instructed, instinctively knowing what he meant. She imagined the venom retreating-all of it. She had to widen what she saw, but she imagined all the venom retreating back out of the wounds, and the clean blood going to the heart. She kept concentrating on this through the nausea that slowly lifted. The last drop of venom fell out of the wound. Her hand slipped.

Ari's head crashed against the concrete, but she didn't feel any pain. In moments she was out.

"Little girl? Little girl?"

Ari resisted waking-she was sleeping so soundly. Reminai chirped in her ear.

Irritated, Ari rolled over and brought her arms up under her head.

"Go away. I'm sleeping."

No response. A few moments later-

"I see."

Ari blinked, opening her eyes. Well, that wasn't the answer she was expecting. She sat up. Chad came into view, resting against the alleyway's wall. The torn sleeves were wrapped around the worst of his wounds, tied into firm knots. Reminai climbed into her lap, and she brought her hand up to stroke him-somewhat missing the thicker layer of soft fuzz that used to cover his body. The hatchling laid his tail across her fore-arm, and she saw clearly that at the tip of it, short, pinkish feathers were beginning to grow.

Reminai shoved his head against the palm of her marked hand, and she saw two black knobs poking out of either side of his skull.

Chad stood up, and offered Ari his hand. Reminai scrambled up to her shoulder, his softly feathered wings brushing her ear. Ari took it, allowing him to help her stand up.

"We better go meet up with Ichigo and the others."

Ari furrowed her eyebrows.

"How? They could be off the school grounds by now."

The large teenager started walking off to the left.

"I know where they are." He answered simply. Reminai curled his tail gently around Ari's neck.

_Funny. Dragon necklace. _Ari mused, making the decision to follow Chad. Seeing her school blouse lying on the ground, she grabbed it, plucked Reminai off her shoulder, setting him on the ground to follow as she slipped it on over her torn white shirt. Rem let out an unhappy growl and jumped back onto Ari's shoulder, digging in with his claws.

"OUCH! Watch what you're doing!"

Chad glanced back as left the alleyway.

"They're coming to meet us."

Ari looked around-none of the group was anywhere in sight.

"How do you-

"Hey Chad! You alright?" a familiar orange haired, black robed figure jumped towards them using the…rooftops? Seriously?...

_Kinda cool. _Ari silently admitted.

"Yea, I'm okay." Chad replied as Ichigo landed in front of them.

"So what-

"You IDIOT. Stop running ahead of me! We're supposed to stay together!" An irritated Rukia appeared out of seemingly thin air and smacked Ichigo on the head.

"Ow! Hey, no one said anything like that!" Ichigo said in a vain attempt to defend himself.

"Hey guys!" A cheerful female voice called out. Uryuu and the orange haired girl ran towards them.

"Uryuu! Orihime!" Ichigo called, waving them over. Joining them, Uryuu pushed his glasses further up onto his nose, not winded at all. Orihime rested her hands on her knees, panting, yet grinning.

"I'm glad we all found each other." Orihime said happily. Uryuu stared at Reminai resting on Ari's shoulder, then his eyes flicked to the markings on Ari's arm, seemingly to contemplate.

"Those hollow were after you, Natsuki, weren't they?"

It wasn't really a question. Orihime put a finger to her lip, looking skywards.

"You know, that would explain why as soon as Natsuki-Chan ran away with Chad, that the hollows suddenly wanted to go in that direction." She beamed.

"It's a good thing Uryuu-kun, Kurosaki-kun, a Rukia-chan are such good fighters!"

Ari had a slight suspicion the girl was on crack. Maybe.

Ichigo, as if seeing Reminai for the first time, jumped back and pointed rudely.

"What IS that thing?"

Feeling insulted, Ari picked Reminai off her shoulder and hugged him to her chest. Reminai growled, trying and failing miserably to look ferocious. His tail snapped from side to side violently.

_Rude boys should be nicer!_ The baby dragon scolded.

"His name is Reminai," Ari responded to Ichigo coldly, fixing a pointed glare on him.

Rukia held out her arms.

"May I?"

Reminai, hearing the request, hissed loudly at Rukia.

_Rem stay with Ari!_

Rukia withdrew her arms.

"Hmmm….well one thing's for certain. That creature and you are leaking out more spiritual energy than I've felt even the' Captains' emit."

"Captains?" Ari asked. Everyone looked at Rukia, and seeing as she didn't say anything, averted their eyes, staring everywhere but Ari. That is, except for Orihime. She stared, eyes wide, at the hatchling on Ari's shoulder. Suddenly-

"How CUTE!" Orihime exclaimed, scooping Reminai out of Ari's arms and hugging him blatantly. She then proceeded to kiss the baby dragon on his cheek. Several times. Reminai sent a pleading look to Ari. The others in the group didn't flinch-clearly used to the girl's insanity.

"Hey-hey! Orihime-can I have him back?"

Orihime contemplated this for a second, and then grinned widely. She passed Reminai back to Ari. Reminai crawled up to the back of Ari's neck, burying his face in her violet hair.

_Crazy lady smells bad._ He complained, earning a snort of laughter from Ari.

"Chad! You're hurt!" Orihime exclaimed, scurrying to his side.

Uryuu cleared his throat.

"Well, I have to ask. You seem human enough, but are you?"

Ari stared, perplexed. "Of course. What did you think I was, a hollow?" she said snarkily.

"Hmm. We should take her to Urahara, just in case." Uryuu said to Rukia. Rukia nodded.

"Hey! Don't I have a choice in this?" Ari demanded, irritated. She did after all have classes to go to still. Rukia shot her an arrogant look.

"No, you do not."

Reminai tensed, growling from the back of Ari's neck. Once again Chad's arm scooped Ari up as though she weighed nothing, placing her on his shoulder. She pounded her fists on his shoulder, wriggling as much as she could to no avail.

"Hey you jerks! Let me go!"

They all ignored her, of course. The bastards.


	12. Urahara's Deal

A/N: Sorry I didn't update-I've been working hard as an intern at a barn. The work never ends, ya know? Lol. In the meantime, I went over this story before I wrote this chapter, and realized that I've really given you guys bad chapters. I will put more effort towards improving my writing style, and when I have time, I'll fix the previous chapters.

"My, my, what a turn of events this is. A newly chosen dragon master in our midst."

The man Ari now knew to be Urahara Kiskuke smiled under his striped hat. His bargain shop looking clothes shook under silent laughter. Without warning, he pulled his cane apart, and a sword's point was rested onto the soft part of Ari's throat. Reminai hissed, spreading his wings and raising his down feathers.

"Hey! Urahara, what's the big idea?" Ichigo snapped.

"Well, if I were to obey the rules listed in the old Soul Reaper context, I would have to kill both you and your dragon," Urahara said nonchalantly, ignoring Ichigo. Reminai snarled, tensing his haunches, readying himself for a pounce.

"However…" he withdrew his sword, putting it back into the cane form.

"I no longer truly abide by the rules of Soul Society. As such, what can I do for you?"

Rukia spoke up.

"So, you called her a dragon master? Tell us, Kisuke, what exactly does that mean?"

The middle aged man brought his hand up to his short beard, rubbing it.

"Hmm…well, how about we discuss this over some tea? You are, after all, my prized customers." The man waved them in, past the curtain. Warily, Ari followed the others, glancing back to see that the big guy that seemed to be a sort of henchman for Urahara standing at the door. Damn.

"Hey, Ari, you coming?" Ichigo called.

"It's Natsuki to you," Ari corrected, and then went to sit on the floor next to the low table between Orihime and Chad. Urahara walked in, holding a teapot. Carefully, he poured some of the tea in each glass. Ari refused to meet his eyes, instead choosing to stare at her hatchling. She felt Urahara's stare on her even so. Reminai propped himself up on his back legs, his tail curling around her side, his muzzle nestled into the crook of her neck. His soft wings encircled her shoulders. This, she found, comforted her greatly. She gently rested her hand on his back, between his wings.

"Tell me, Ari, how did you come across his egg?" Urahara asked, as he sat down and took a sip of tea. The others looked at her with interest. So. That's how it was. She had been looking for an excuse to leave, anyways. Ari stood up, hugging Reminai tightly to her chest.

"I feel no obligation to tell any of you anything. I am thankful to you guys for saving me. However, it doesn't change the fact that you people dragged me here against my will, only to now interrogate me. I'm leaving now."

As she turned, she found the tip of Urahara's sword at her neck once more.

"Very well. However, I can't allow you to walk the streets freely attracting as many hollows as you are." Urahara stated casually. Yet his eyes stared into hers under the brim of his hat with an intensity that rivaled an eagle's.

Ari felt herself begin to struggle against the implied binds mentally. She had left to escape the binds her father put on her, not to stumble into more.

"If you continue attracting hollows like that, the entire city will be engulfed by them. And many people will die. You don't want that, do you?"

_Asshole._

But he had a point. Ari wasn't going to tell him that, though. Instead, she fixed a glare back at him, hoping to match the intensity of his.

"What do you want?" The question came out of her with such resonating authority it surprised Ari. Urahara grinned a strangely white grin.

"Simply put, before you leave, you have to master concealing your riatsu. Otherwise..-" His voice dropped into intensity-"I'll have to kill you."

A/N: Don't worry-next chappie will be coming up tomorrow. :D I'm not leaving for another month.


End file.
